Wednesday, 11 March 2009

A Day at the Fair

If you were reading along a few days ago, I mentioned that today was going to be an exciting day, for today, I went here:

Yes, the Country Living magazine Spring fair.

Ready to shop 'til you drop? Let's go in then.

(Just inside main entrance, ground floor.)

(Looking down on the ground floor.)

(Looking down on the first floor; you can also see the second floor mezzanine round the sides.)

Quite daunting hey? Quite exciting though - OH YES!!!

Well, the fair certainly lived up to the "Spring" in its title. There were lovely displays of seasonal flowers all around.

This post is going to be quite photo heavy rather than word heavy (hooray, I hear you cry) because I'm too tired to write! Let's wander round the stalls and ogle the goodies...

Ah, vintage Union Jacks...

A fabulous stall selling wildly coloured deckchair canvas and the most marvellous multi-coloured pom-pom trim. Yes, some of that certainly did make it back to the HenHouse.

Here, you can sit a while and watch the demonstrations taking place.

Sponsored by our old friend...

Now, this picture is for my sister, Queen of the Scrapbook (hello sis!) The items on this stall were all really pretty, and handmade, but what caught my eye were the lovely collages which remind me so much of the scrapbooks my sister and I keep.

Time to head upstairs. What's this at the very front? Oooh my, a Vanessa Arbuthnott stand. I just love her fabrics and dived eagerly on the "patchwork packs" filled with remnant pieces of her divine fabrics. Can't wait to get going with those. I also picked up her catalogue, the roomsets are to die-for (real rooms I understand in Vanessa Arbuthnott's home and barn). I must mention that all the proceeds from this stall were going towards bowel cancer research at the Royal Marsden Hospital, such a good thing to do. I also noted from the catalogue that all Vanessa Arbuthnott's products are made in Britain. Good stuff indeed.

Golly, feeling a bit jaded now, arms getting longer by the minute. Time for a cup of tea and slice of fruit loaf at this rather nicely done "Yorkshire Tea" cafe.

Believe it or not, about this time, I bumped into a lady who said to me: "Are you Hen?" Err, yes. "I read your blog!" How funny. Hello, lady lurker, nice to meet you, thanks for saying hello.

Onto a stall with a fair spread of Greengate goodies, and a beautiful display of polyanthus, too. It was difficult to take any more photos of the Greengate stand because it was so rammed with bodies!

Another gorgeous stall, one which I remember from the Christmas Fair, "Living Vintage". Look at those gorgeous doggies! There was also a lovely iron daybed piled high (and low) with vintage eiderdowns and the walls of the stall were adorned with vintage floral paintings.

Loved these! These bird boxes (there were also some cages) appeared on the Selvedge magazine stand. They were made from gorgeous Liberty fabrics. I think I may have to try my hand at one for myself. Tweet tweet!

(The large boxes were £150, the smaller ones £125.)

Ah, what a day. It was great, I just loved it, in fact I thought it was better than the Christmas Fair. Let's say just a few goodies made it back with me!

51 comments:

Thanks for sharing your day with us Hen. I am hoping to go to the fair on Friday. I am always disappointed with the Country Living Christmas fair. I didn't go last time as on a previous occasion the fudge man had run out of most flavours, the pot pourri I bought lost its scent within days and everything looked 'samey'. I hope I will be inspired this time!

oh im so gutted i cant get to the spring fair :-( but thank you for letting me "see" it on your blog :-)hubby in london at mo and when he rings later he will get me complaining for the upteenth time about not being able to go because of him LOLi do have plans to go to london in the next couple of months so fancy being my tour guide?!how funny you were spotted :-)lesleyx

Lovely sneak preview Hen..I am off to the big smoke myself tomorrow... It will be at least 15 years since my last visit to the CL fair but I am on a mission.. will report back.. Luckily I have a good blogging friend to keep me company and keep an eye on my purse strings!

I am so jealous...i have always wanted to go...thanks for sharing...I think you were a very good girl...I know that I wouldnt have been able to walk for purchases if I had gone...greed takes over and the bank balance is forgotten....

I will definitely have to go next year!!!! It looks like Shabby Chic/ Country heaven!!! Thanks for sharing the gorgeous pics, and I bet you get loads of inspiration!!!!!!I think I will have to start saving now!!!!

Thanks for sharing! There was no Scottish Spring Fayre because we had a Christmas Fayre for the first time and it was fab (absolutely heaving with people but no where near the scale of the one down south) Looking forward to seeing what you have bought - jacqui x

I've always wanted to go to a 'Country Living' fair, but have never had the chance, your pictures make it look even more lovely than I could imagine - maybe next year!!

Also thank you for your lovely comment today, crochet is very addictive, despite having three children bombarding me constantly with requests I didn't do my normal thing and give up - I couldn't put it down!!

Hello!I was disappointed not to have been able to go myself this year but you did such a lovely job with your pictures, I feel like I kind of did...what tempting goodies...I would have been weighed down with bags, so happy you had a good day!

Lucky you! We've decided not to go this spring - now I'm regretting that decision! Must show us your goodies!I have actually been in Vanessa Arbuthnotts house on a CL textiles course and I can confirm that it's probably the most gorgeous house I've ever been in, the kitchen is to die for, not to mention the swimming pool and tennis courts!Julia xx

Hi Hen, looks like you had a wondeful day and I trust you are going to share your purchases with us all..pretty please?! Love the bird boxes..but the prices made my eyes water..I wonder if they sold many? Dev X

oh poop, i've been kinda dreading reading this post which I knew would surely come, been dreading the JEaLousy I knew would come!!! LOL!! I sSooooo wanted to visit the fair but was unable to get cheap train tickets this time, £80 was just beyond me.boohoo. Ah well, as ever Hen you've captured the show beautiuflly with your pics....lovely job.xxxxxxxxxxxx

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I must go to the next one, really wanted to go to this one but didn't get it sorted. I'm loving.... the union jack cushions (what company is that??), the dogs (do you think I could have one or do you need children?), Vanessa's fabrics(just ordered some samples), the yorshire tea cafe(my fav) and so much more... thanks for sharing. I think we should all meet up for the next one & have a bloggers day out. I had trouble finding someone who wanted to go :(

You gotta love the CL fairs. The last one I was at was Christmas and it had a lovely cosy feel to it. It's really good to get creative juices flowing by seeing all the wonderful people and artisans out there and peddling their wares.

Hi hen, I'm so glad you went, I knew you would share your visit with us! it looks a gorgeous fair I think i would prefer the spring one...ooh those union jacks and all that vintage loveliness! Just wish they would hold one at the nec for us midlanders!x

Hi Hen,I really enjoyed your tour - thank you for taking the time to snap all of those shots...it certainly looks the place to buy cushions! ;-))Loved the vintagey stand with the lovely painted furniture...Such a shame that the stalls are so expensive (that's without staying/travelling to London)...I can't work out how some of these ladies can be making any profit...

Thanks for sharing your day at the Fair. I've never been, but your post has described it so well, and with such great photos, I've really got a feel for it, and I'm determined I will go to one now - they look fab.

Rent Lilac Cottage

My Den

About Me

Hello and thank you for visiting the HenHouse. I'm a stay-at-home thirty-something mum looking after Mr HenHouse and the Munchkin, aged 13 (going on 18). We also have a gorgeous and very spoiled ginger tom, Charlie Boy. Sadly we had to say goodbye to our two other furry boys this year. We have recently moved from the city to our dream home in the West Country. I have always loved vintage and have collections of eiderdowns, china and fabrics to name just a few. I love sewing and am an avid patchworker and quilter. As a family, we are dotty about the past and love the 1940s, often dressing up for re-enactment events. To fund my fabric habit, I sell handmade items in my Etsy shop. I'm pretty nutty about interiors, too and our homes have been featured in various magazines.